Call From Berlin

Sara Messenger © 1993

A call from Berlin without salutation
He cuts straight to the heart all the way from Berlin
The healing begins with quick tears when she hears
Someone’s thinking of her all the way from Berlin

But from Crenshaw to Fairfax
There’s something missing in his syntax
There’s miles of concrete details
In the scenery green
But he talks just like a freeway sign
Speaking shorthand, naming only exits
While I’m left to infer what he means
He leaves me to fill the in-between
He leaves me for New York, Paris,
London, and Berlin

A call from Berlin without salutation
He cuts straight to the heart all the way from Berlin
The healing begins with quick tears when she hears
Someone’s thinking of her all the way from Berlin

But from Crenshaw to Fairfax
There’s something missing in his syntax
There’s Miles … and there’s Coltrane
But he talks just like a freeway sign
Speaking shorthand, naming only exits
While I’m left to infer what he means
He leaves me to fill the in-between
He leaves me for New York, Paris, London,
Bangkok, Belfast, Brussels, Belgrade,
Bombay, Brisbane, Baghdad and Berlin